BookBrowse: Your Guide to Exceptional Books

Reviews by Joan P. (Owego, NY)

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Activities of Daily Living: A Novel
by Lisa Hsiao Chen

Activities of Daily Living (1/11/2022)

I found this a difficult book. There are two main threads. One tells about The Artist, the life and accomplishments of a Chinese immigrant that is a performance artist. The second tells of The Father who is slowly walking the path to dementia and death. Time and it's boundaries and vagaries seems to bind them together. I related to the story of the father as I am on the same path and have a loving daughter to guide me. This was beautifully written and insightful. At other times I felt confused and irritated at the bombardment of extraneous material and name dropping. Was this the authors expectation?
Once I start a book I am compelled to finish it. For the reader that needs the story to 'grab" them in the first fifty pages, This book is not for you.

New York, My Village: A Novel
by Uwem Akpan

New York, My Village (8/12/2021)

New York, My Village shows the many subtleties of racial bias framed by the experiences of a young Nigerian writer who comes to America to learn the publishing business at a small American firm. The Biafrin fight for independence is the subject of a book of remembrances he is compiling and editing. It provides a disturbing background that affects his life even in New York. His interactions with work colleagues, building residents, his own relatives and old friends, and the Catholic Church show the influence of racism and tribalism in every part of his life. This is a dense, complicated book, educational and disturbing. I was overwhelmed by the many problems it exposed, both historic and current. This is not the book for the casual reader and I will be thinking about it for a long time.

Morningside Heights: A Novel
by Joshua Henkin

Morningside Heights (4/1/2021)

Morningside Heights could be called, the story of a marriage. Spence, a charismatic professor marries Pru, his student. He is an atheist and she has been raised in a Kosher home. He has a son, Arlo, being raised in a haphazard way by his ex wife, Linda. Together, Pru and Spence have a daughter, Sarah. To give Arlo some stability, he joins the family. Problems are handled with patience and love but not always solved. Spence begins to show signs of early onset Alzheimer's disease. That's when Ginny and her son Rafe enters their lives.

Not only did I learn a little about Judaism, laugh a little, feel sad at time, I enjoyed getting to know characters who handled life's challenges with courage and grace.

Smalltime: A Story of My Family and the Mob
by Russell Shorto

Smalltime (2/22/2021)

Smalltime is a very interesting narrative history of a family and the Mafia in a small city in Pennsylvania. Russell Shorto is urged by friends and family to tell the story of his grandfather, Russ, and his life of crime. As he listens and records stories he finds to fully understand he must explore the beginnings of the Italian immigration to America. The motivation for the entry into the illegal life was poverty and the easy money to be made during prohibition.
Along with the story of mob, Shorto begins to realize the inaccuracy of childhood memories. His father, Tony, had a very distant relationship with his father and never entered the crime family.
Smalltime is not for everyone but I found it informative, thought provoking, and very well written.

Big Girl, Small Town
by Michelle Gallen

Big Girl Small Town (10/24/2020)

Big Girl, Small Town is set in times of truce in Northern Ireland. There is still animosity toward the occupying English and uneasiness between the Catholic and Protestant townspeople.

Majella has lost her uncle who was involved with the IRA, her father has disappeared, and her grandmother has been assaulted and killed in her home. She is a stocky girl whose life is depressingly routine. Majella works each night in a fish and chips shop serving the same customers, hearing the same jokes, and then goes home to an alcoholic mother and a cold, lonely house. She seems to accept the dreariness of her life and expresses no anger at it's hopelessness.

Among all the darkness you will find loving people, hearty laughter, and marvelous characters. Fans of Edna O'Brien and Frank McCourt will find this a good read. Not for everyone but I couldn't put it down.

Daughter of the Reich: A Novel
by Louise Fein

Daughter of the Third Reich (3/11/2020)

I found this to be a very interesting glimpse into growing up as the Third Reich came to power in Germany. We see this through the eyes of Herta, a young German girl, who is excited and entranced by Hitler and his plans for her country. Her father, a newspaper editor, profits from his connection to the SS. Her brother dreams of the day he can join the army and learn to fly. Herta soon finds that there are consequences to this new order that affect her friends and neighbors. The characters are well developed. They are human and some you learn to love and admire and some you find hard to like. Parts of the plot were predictable at times and I thought the diary entrees were unnecessary and slowed the movement of the story. All in all, this is a good read especially in today's world where we are so politically divided and confused.

Small Days and Nights: A Novel
by Tishani Doshi

Thought Provoking Novel (12/5/2019)

I found Small Days and Nights an interesting book. Grace tells of her upbringing. Her mother and father had a strange relationship and a very big secret that Grace is faced with after the death of her mother. The author is a poet and I found the descriptions of the places in Grace's life beautiful and troubling. She speaks of the plastic filled waters of India and the murky, dark canals of Venice and the openess of the spaces and roads in America. A recurring theme is how alone Grace is. To paraphrase, Grace had an acute need for a witness to her life and a yearning for people in her life who shared her memories besides her parents. This book is so rich with characters, ideas and poetry, it deserves a second reading for me to truly understand all of it.

Cartier's Hope: A Novel
by M. J. Rose

Cartiers Hope (9/10/2019)

If you want to learn more about New York high society in the early 1900s, this novel gives you a glimpse into the times. It also gives insight into the world of jewelers, gems, and especially the fabled Hope diamond.

Vera Garland, the main character, leads a double life. She enjoys the privilege of a woman welcomed in the highest social circles. As Vee Swann, she is an investigative reporter for a city newspaper where she the gossip column and also some undercover work. As such, she addresses many problems of the time such as the plight of the poor immigrants, woman's rights and homosexuality and the law. Throw in the curse of the Hope diamond plus a little romance and you have an interesting read.

Travelers: A Novel
by Helon Habila

Travelers (5/5/2019)

Interesting book. It is divided into six books. Each could be a stand alone short story and it took me awhile to find the thread that tied it all together. The book tells of immigrants that come to Europe from Africa. Some come for education, some for work, and many come seeking asylum from disastrous wars and poverty. The characters are compelling. The stories are horrifying. We see these people on tv and read about them every day. Travelers is heartbreaking and depressing but now I truly understand the plight of these human beings.

The Last Collection: A Novel of Elsa Schiaparelli and Coco Chanel
by Jeanne Mackin

The Last Collection (2/21/2019)

I found this an interesting story about the rivalry between two famous couturiers in the days before Paris fell to the Germans in WWII. It captures the sense of foreboding while Parisians waited for the inevitable. I would have rated it higher if the writing had been better. The narrator was an artist and seemed to need a color before every noun. Annoying and heavy handed. The fictional love stories seemed contrived and in some cases unbelievable. What she did well was capture a time and culture and a Paris that will never be the same.

House of Stone
by Novuyo Rosa Tshuma

House of Stone (12/7/2018)

I have mixed feelings about this book. The history of Zimbabwe is marked with bloodshed and violence and this novel explains the many factions involved in the fight for independence. Told by the people who lived this nightmare, it was very intriguing. The main characters were trying to forget the past but Zamani, the narrator, used scheming and manipulation to find the past hoping to have a hi story of his own. A good premise but I found it difficult and confusing with flashbacks, too many individual stories and a multitude of minor characters. It was a wordy mixture of modern cliches, classical, mythological, religious references and rambling sentences. Not my cup of tea.

The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls
by Anissa Gray

The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls (10/7/2018)

What is really a fascinating plot is made even better by great characters. They are troubled people and the author skillfully shows the roots,of their dysfunction.

Althea and Porter are sent to jail when their daughter, Kim, turns them in for fraud. Family is called on to care for teenaged Kim and her twin, Little Vi. The past continues to influence the present. A dark story that ends with hope for the future.

This is a debut novel that has made me a fan. I look forward to Anissa Gray's next book. This would make an excellent book club selection.

Sold on a Monday
by Kristina McMorris

Sold On a Monday (8/3/2018)

A depression-era news photo of two children with a "For Sale" was a picture that the author could not erase from her memory. McMorris used it to write a fascinating novel about what might have happened to these children. Lots of twists and turns and just when you think you have figured out what is going to happen, something happens to upset your theory. As a backdrop to the main plot you get a look at a time when, children worked in coal mines, unwed mothers were shunned, newspapers were thriving, and you had to crank your car to start it. It was a terrible time in America but makes a great read.

The Travelling Cat Chronicles
by Hiro Arikawa, Philip Gabriel

The Traveling Cat Chronicals (5/1/2018)

This is really the story of Satoru, a Japanese man, told by his loving cat, Nana. Saturn can no longer care for Nana so he makes visits to old friends to find a suitable home for the cat. Each friendship reveals much about what a good man Satoru is and we discover that he has always made others happy even though he has had a hard life. Nana interacts with other animals and remarks about the humans at each stop. He is very insightful and funny. It gives us a look at what our animals think about us. Anyone that has a beloved pet will appreciate this book and cat lovers will nod and say, "I knew they were smarter than dogs."

A Place for Us
by Fatima Farheen Mirza

A Place For Us (3/23/2018)

This is one of the best books that I have read in years. I'm no fan of flashbacks or multiple narrators but this author makes it work. We are introduced to a religious Islamic family in America, Layla, Rafiq, and their children, Hadia, Huda, and Amar. Piece by piece Mirza encapsulates a time, place and event that builds a character. We see strict gender and social rules of a religion that expects much of its adherents. I learned a lot but was also captured by the beautiful, thoughtful writing telling an intriguing tale of family and how we struggle to understand and love one another through many difficulties. I'm pretty stingy with my stars but I would give this book six stars if I could.

French Exit
by Patrick deWitt

French Exit (1/29/2018)

All I could think as I read this was, what a whacky book! It's reminiscent of the 1930s black and white, high society movies. After more thought, I realized how clever De Witt was to bring all these interesting characters together to tell a crazy story about the desperation of people striving to keep up appearances and adapt to altered circumstances. Frances Price has been shunned by New York society because she neglected to report her husband's death and went skiing. She and her son are broke and move to a friend's apartment in Paris along with Little Frank, a cat that houses the spirit of her dead husband. After Little Frank's disappearance, new characters are introduced and old characters reappear. Relationships are explored leading to the final resolution to Frances's problems. I'd like to read more about these people. All in all a darkly funny book.

Our Lady of the Prairie
by Thisbe Nissen

Our Lady of the Prairie (11/3/2017)

This book has more plot lines than most trilogies. Each, if fully explored would make a book. The main story concerns Phillipa who leaves her husband of 26 years for a colleague, Lucius. Phillipa and Michael have raised a I dysfunctional daughter, Ginnie, who seems to have found happiness with a lapsed Amish boy, Silas. Their wedding takes place during a tornado. Ginnie's friends Linda and Randall have a big role in getting the wedding performed. They are sponsor and sponsee in NA and have their own story. Michael's mother, Bernadette, has no discernible past and says that Michael's father died in WWII. Throw in the stories of Regina and Creamer, people met at the Gas Stop Bar. The book explores mid-life confusion, bulimia, a Presidential campaign angst, pro-life and pro-choice arguments, and even Nazi collaborators in WWII. I found bright spots in the writing and even passages that were memorable, but I felt that there were too many side trips that that were distractions from the main plot.

Stay with Me
by Ayobami Adebayo

Stay With Me (8/10/2017)

The constant political instability in Nigeria is the backdrop to this story of love and secrets. Akin, the husband, and Yijeda, the wife, face infertility, family pressures, and dark secrets that finally force them apart. I am always fascinated with cultures that blend the old ways with modern life in a seamless way. Yejida tries potions and prayers to no avail. She is a strong woman that seems destined to be alone, no parents, no children, no husband. There are interesting secondary characters that flesh out the narrative.
I really enjoyed this book and had a hard time writing this review without revealing the plot. Look beyond the good story and you will find universal fears, foibles and feelings. A great debut novel.

The Almost Sisters
by Joshilyn Jackson

Almost Sisters (5/4/2017)

No Gimmicks! No changing narrators! No flashbacks! "Almost Sisters" is a good story beautifully written. Leia Birch is confronted with two problems to begin the book. She finds herself pregnant as a result of a one time encounter with a man she met at a conference and her beloved grandmother has been acting strangely and decisions have to be made for her future. Add in the marital problems of her step sister with whom she has a bumpy relationship since childhood. If that seems like enough, it isn't. You're in for many surprises. She explores the relationships between fathers and daughters and how the future is affected by them. Another theme becomes evident as the book is ending. It confronts race relations in what Jackson calls " the second south". Of course the main theme is how " almost sisters" have bonds that can't be broken. I will be putting this author's novels on my must read list.

The Book of Summer
by Michelle Gable

The Book of Summer (3/7/2017)

Family sagas are my favorites and so I really enjoyed. "The Book of Summer". I'm not a great fan of the narrative switching between the past and present but this time it worked for me. The seeds of the present are planted in the past and produced some " aha moments". The characters are engaging and the house is as much a character as the family. It's a place of refuge that is disappearing forcing the family to honestly face the future. I had one negative reaction. The use of slang in the 40s sections was gratingly false. It's my era and it's not authentic or necessary. A bit of history, gender identity, ecology, and romance make this a book with something for everyone.
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Reviews by Joan P. (Owego, NY)

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